Rachel Whiteread survey exhibition

21er Haus, Museum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Vienna, Austria

March 7 - July 29, 2018

For over three decades, Rachel Whiteread (born 1963 in London) has materialized the intangible. Her sculptures make voids visible and awaken memories of that which has been irretrievably lost. For the first time in Austria, the Belvedere 21 will show a cross-section of the renowned British artist’s work.

Rachel Whiteread is one of the leading international artists of her generation. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Turner Prize in 1993 and went on to represent the UK at the 1997 Venice Biennale. Known for her signature casting technique, Whiteread’s work ranges in scale from the monumental to the intimate in a variety of materials such as plaster, resin, rubber, concrete, metal and paper. Despite their minimalist language and severity, Whiteread’s sculptures are very sensual. Her lifelong project as an artist is fusing everyday architectural and domestic forms with personal and universal human experiences and memories.

The exhibition presents a cross-section of Rachel Whiteread’s entire oeuvre, showing her most important large scale sculptures alongside her more intimate works. These include casts from entire rooms to architectural features such as floors, doors and windows to domestic objects such as tables, boxes and hot water bottles. Special sections document public projects which have punctuated Whiteread’s career, such as Watertower 1998 in New York and Embankment 2005 for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. A particular emphasis of the exhibition is focused on the Holocaust Memorial, which was unveiled in 2000 at the Judenplatz in Vienna.

The exhibition is co-organised by Tate Britain and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, in association with 21er Haus, Vienna and the Saint Louis Art Museum.